Sewing-machine.



no. 629,831. Patnteu'Aug. 1,1899.

' A. u. Towns e. T. BARRETT.

H. WHITE, Execurtur of A. 0. TOWNS, Decd.

SEWING MACHINE.

(Applicntion Blad July 21, 1894.)

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(No Model.)

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No. 629338:. Pafanteu Aug. l, 1899. A. o. Towns & T. BARRETT.

H. WHITE, Executor of A'. 0. TUWNS, Deod.

SEWlNE MACHINE.

(Appnmion med my m, 1894.)

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(Mn Model.)

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No. 529,881'. Patented Aug. l, |899. A. n. Towns a. T. BARRETT.

H. WHITE, Executor of A. U. TOWNS, ec'd.

SEWING MACHINE.

(Application led July?` 21, 1894.)

(No Nudel.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

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Patented Aug. l, i899.

A. 0. TUWNS & T. BARRETT. u. WHITE, executor nf A. o. Towns, mwa.

*SEWING MACHINE. (Appliminn med :my -fax, 1894.)

4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

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un.. wAsHlN--T UNITED STATES .i

.ATENT g OFFICE.

ALBERT O. TOW'NS, OF HUDSON, NEW HAMPSHIRE, AND THOMAS BARRETT, y OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNORS, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO W. PIERREPONT VHITE, HUGH lVHlTE, AND CLARENCE B. OROUSE, OF

UTICA, NEW' YORK; OEASED.

HUGH YV'HITE EXECUTOR OF. SAID TOVNS, DE-

sEwxNG-MAol-HNE.

SPECFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 629,881,v dated August 1, 1899.

Application filed July 211 1894.

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, ALBERT O. Towns, residing at Hudson, inthe county of Hillsborough'and State of New Hampshire, and THOMAS BARRETT, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, citizens of the United States, have invented a new and nsefulvlmprovement in Sewing- Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specication, in explaining its nature.

` The invention relates to a sewing-machine provided with a guide which cooperates with the cloth-feeding and the stitch-forming devices to permit, by ordinary sewing mechanism having a needle or needles which reciprocate always in the'same vertical plane, material of any kind to be moved automatically or otherwise laterally in relation to the general direction of the feed, whereby there is placed or sewed inthe material an ornamental stitch of any desired design,'the character or style of the design being'varied in some instances bythe coperationof vthe movable guide and the feed andin other instances by the feed alone, as will`- be hereinafter described. Such an organizationis especially desirable for the. purpose of'sewing or working on long strips of narrow materiallike braid, for instance-an ornamental pattern or design, the stitches ofwhich are of the ordinary'type sewed by sewing-machines, excepting as they may vary as to length, and the range of the ornamental pattern thus stitched is very much increased when a machine having what is known as a variable feed is employed. For stitching this ornamental stitch or pattern in narrow fabrics a guide which is in the nature fof anautomatic transferrer of the fabric is preferable, and the stitching is then automaticallydone, the feeding and the transfer of ,the material being 45 entirely automatic; but where the material is broad the guide may automatically transfer the material, or it may serve as an abutment or rest against which the material is held Serial No. 518,214. (No model.)

either by hand or by the action of the feeding mechanism, or by both. The guide itself is controlled in its movements, preferably, by means of a cam of any desired construction as to shape and to provide any movements desired.

le prefer in straight-line sewing to use the Standard type of machine, although anyother type may be employed. It will be understood, however, that the variety of ornamental stitches which can be sewed by a straight-line machine with the ordinary four-motion feed is limited.

In variable-stitching machines we prefer to employ the organization described in Letters Patent of the United States No. 519,676, dated May 8, 1894, granted to John Thomas Jones,or,at any rate,stitching-machines having the type of variable feed therein described,

although,` of course, we do not confine onr` selves thereto. The said patent describes a sewing-machine many of the parts of which are common to Standard straight-line sewingmachines,"the principal differences being in the feed and tension or thread-controlling devices. 'V

The machine has, broadly speaking, an upper needle that constantly reciprocates in the same vertical plane, a rotary shuttle beneath the bed-plate of the machine, and a Vvariable cloth-feed capable of being adjusted and operated tofeed the material or fabric being sewed in any desired direction in relation to the stitch-forming devices or point where the stitch is being madethat is, the feed is organized to move the fabric forward, backward, to the right or to the left, or in a path resulting from a combination of these; it being understood, of course', that the fabric or material is 'always progressed 0r moved onward a greater distance than it-'is 'moved backward, and this enablesthe working of any desired pattern into the fabric or material, the extent and direction of the feed gov-A erning the shape or design of the pattern. The machine of said patent was organized especially for the purpose of sewing fancy stitching or patterns in relatively broad or wide elastic fabrics-such, for instance, as

undervests; but by the employment of the material controlling or governing device or guide above indicatedin addition tothe other mechanism of the machine the same variety of ornamental designs or stitches may be automatically sewed in long narrow fabrics, like braids.

We will now describe the invention in connection with the drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a front side sectional elevation of a variable-stitching machine having the features of our invention. Fig. 2 is a view in plan of the bed-plate of the machine, the overhead bracket being removed and a portion of the plate being broken out to show the construction beneath. Fig. 3 is a view in plan of the machine inverted. Fig. 4 is a view of the machine, partly in end elevation and partly in vertical cross-section.

A is the bed-plate of the machine. B is the usual overhanging bracket or arm of this type of machine. C is the reciprocating eye-pointed needle supported and operated above the work-plate. C is the rotary shuttle below the work-plate. These parts are like those of the well-known Standard sewing-machine and need not further be described.

The rising-and-falling throat C2, the variable-feed dog C3, and the thin movable support C4 surrounding the feed-dog, are like similar parts described in said Patent No. 519,676 and are operated as therein described. The presser-foot C5 and take-up arms C6 C7 are also like corresponding parts in the said patent and are similarly operated.

D is the movable cloth or fabric controlling device or feed-guide. It is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 as mounted on the cloth or bed plate of the machine. Said cloth or fabric controlling device consists of a slide movably crosswise the general direction of the feed and having one or more projections which serve as means for engaging the cloth or material or against which the cloth or material may be held or moved. Thev slide is moved by a cam which is timed to move it between the feeding operations or movements of the cloth-feeding devices. This movement maycoincide with the feed in part, as in some of the variable feed movements of the feeding mechanism of said Patent No. 519,676, or in case of a straightaway or four-motion feed it is moved by the cam crosswise it one or more steps in the same direction and then backward, as may be desired. y

The cam D' is utilized for imparting to the slide-plate D the necessary movements and through the same instrumentalities that are used for moving the feed-dog laterally-that is, the lever d, pivoted at d', having a campin d2 to enter the groove d3 in the cam-disk D and engaging by an adjustable connection the lever d4, which is pivoted at d? and reciprocates the block or slide CZ in ways in the bed-plate of the machine, the slide d being connected with the slide D bythe arm d?.

These guides are substantially alike.

lVe prefer the type of guide which is car'- ricd upon the work or bed-plate of the machine, as representedin Figs. l and 2, and which comprises a plate H at the outer end of the operating-arm cZ7, preferably made integral therewith, having a relativelylarge opening h at its center toinclose the feed-dog and the presser-foot when down and carrying the guides 7L h2, which are the fore guides, and the guides h3 h4, which are the rear guides.

have guiding-surfaces formed by upwardly and inwardly extending sections h5, which, in effect, form guide-walls and arms extending backward from these walls, which are slotted, and which are held in place by screws which pass through the slots into the plate H, the slots affording means by which the guidewalls may be adj usted laterally in relation to each other. To steady and guide the plate H, it may have a slot h6, through which a screwstud la7, screwing into the bed-plate, may eX- tend. (See Fig. 2.)

The form of double guide represented in Fig. 2 is used when narrow fabrics having parallel edges are beingV stitched.

In operation the guide-feed may be used as above indicated simply to sew automatically in a braid or narrow fabric having parallel edges any desired form of ornamental pattern or stitch, in which event the guide-feed entirely controls the lateral movement of the fabric.

In the machine shown by the J ones patent, No. 519,676, hereinbefore referred to, as also in the machine shown by the prior Jones patent, No. 420,073, dated January 28, 1890, of which the machine shown by the Jones patent, No. 519,676, Was an improvement, the variable or six-motioned feeding device operated not only to move the work forward and to the right and left, but also at times to move the work backward, as hereinbefore stated, thereby producing a large variety of ornamental or fancy figures, according to the character of the pattern mechanism employed for controlling these fancy or variable feeding movements. By the combination, therefore, with a variable feeding mechanism adapted to move the work forward and sidewise and also backward at times, of a guiding mechanism which holds a strip to bev ornamented or to be ornamented and attached to another piece of material in such a manner that it maybe moved forward and sidewise and also backward we are enabled to do, by this combined variable stitch-feeding mechanism and strip-guidin g mechanism, a class of work for which, so far as we are aware, no sewingmachines have heretofore been constructed.

Having thus fully described our invention, we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United Statesl. In a sewing-machine, the combination with the stitch-forming devices thereof, of a rising-and-falling feed-dog G3 and means for imparting backward -an d-forward movements They l IOO IIO

lto said feed-dog, a rising-and-falling throat C2 surrounded by said feed-dog, a block or slide d6 with which said feed-dog is connected, mechanism for reciprocating said block or slide to the right and let to move the feeddog laterally, and a sldin g plate, as H, having suitable guides and also connected with said block or slide de to be moved laterally with said .feed-dog said sliding plate being provided with an opening i-n which said feed-dog reciprocates forward and backward to impart forward or backward movements to the Work.

2. In a sewing-machine, the combination With the stitch-forming devices thereof', of the feed-dog C3, mechanism to impart risingandfalling, forWard-and-backward and lateral movements to said feed-dog, the sliding plate H connected with the operating mechanism of said feed-dog so as to be moved to the right and left therewith, said plate being provided with an opening h, in which said 'feed-dog Works, and with the guides h', h2,

Witnesses: Y

F. F. RAYMOND, 2d, J. M DOIAN, 

